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Steve Case: Don't Let Top Talent Leave the U.S.

Mashable is proud to join technology's brightest entrepreneurs in the March For Innovation, a virtual march on Washington that calls for smart, comprehensive immigration reform to attract and keep the best and brightest to fuel innovation and American jobs.

Contrary to the prevailing narrative in Washington that our elected leaders are unable to tackle big problems, the two parties are close to reaching an agreement on common-sense immigration reform — an action that will improve the environment for entrepreneurs to start and scale businesses.

To continue the momentum on this critical issue, today I'm joining leaders from across the political spectrum in the largest ever “virtual march on Washington” — the March for Innovation to push for immigration reform.

The #iMarch includes Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Governor Jeb Bush, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Governor Rick Synder, Arianna Huffington, Laurene Powell Jobs, Grover Norquist, Mayor Cory Booker and many others from all parts of the political spectrum. For the next two days, we have all committed to using social media and online advocacy to let Congress know that we are too close to not cross the finish line.

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill under debate in the Senate addresses the legal, moral and security components of reform. But most importantly, the legislation also addresses the talent issue, ensuring the world's most promising innovators and entrepreneurs contribute their hard work and creativity to the U.S. economy, rather than to the economy of our competitor nations.

Last year, Democrats and Republicans came together on behalf of our nation's entrepreneurs to pass the Jumpstart Our Business Startup (JOBS) Act that helps entrepreneurs access capital, create jobs and grow their businesses. Immigration reform is key to winning the global battle for talent and foster a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As the diverse mix of leaders of the #iMarch know, entrepreneurs not only build new companies, but also whole new industries that power our economy. Immigrant entrepreneurs have been a vital part of that tradition. Iconic American companies like Dupont, US Steel, Google and eBay were founded or co-founded by immigrants.

In fact, 40% of Fortune 500 companies in the United States were started by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Studies show that for every 100 additional foreign-born workers in STEM fields in the U.S., 262 jobs are created for native workers.

From a competitive standpoint, we have to get back to celebrating and welcoming these men and women. If we don’t, we will continue losing our entrepreneurial edge.

Every year, tens of thousands of graduate students from around the world earn their diplomas in the U.S. and are effectively told to leave and set up competitor businesses abroad. Would-be entrepreneurs with big ideas are stuck in a visa system that does not provide the latitude to leave a big corporation and start a new one. American jobs are lost when Facebook or Google is forced to relocate a project or unit abroad because the leader of that division is denied a visa.

This is part of the reason why the percentage of immigrant-founded startups in Silicon Valley has dropped from 53.4% to 43.9% during recent years. Meanwhile, countries like Singapore, Germany, China, India and Canada are making it much easier for the entrepreneurs educated in the U.S. to start businesses in their countries, instead of our own.

The legislation before the Senate reverses this trend and advances America’s global competitiveness. Among its provisions, the bill establishes a startup visa for job-creating entrepreneurs. It provides funding for STEM education so we can train the next generation of American workers in high-tech careers. Finally, it also raises the cap on the number of H1-B visas that companies can use to attract top-tier talent from around the world. All told, the bipartisan legislation is a boon to America’s economic future.

That's why the #iMarch is so important: It demonstrates to our elected officials that a diverse mix of leaders and ordinary Americans are marching together to find a bipartisan solution to the challenge of immigration in the 21st century. Please join our virtual #iMarch by tweeting, posting to Facebook and sharing with your friends.

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